Supreme Court ruling on COPA

[Nancy Willard <nwillard@RESPONSIBLENETIZEN.ORG>]

Now folks, this is an interesting ruling.

U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES COPA UNCONSTITUTIONAL
A divided US Supreme Court has ruled that COPA is
unconstitutional. By a vote of 5-4, the majority said a
lower court was correct to block the law from taking effect
because it likely violates the First Amendment. It called
for a new trial to determine whether less restrictive
technologies such as filters can protect children online or
whether technology could make COPA effective without
violating the First Amendment. Decision at
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/03pdf/03-218.pdf
Coverage at
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,64028,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/30/politics/30PORN.final.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15547-2004Jun29.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scotus30jun30,1,5337486
.story?coll=la-home-headlines
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-06-29-sc-porn_x.htm
it suggested that perhaps parents, rather than lawmakers, should take the
lead in screening kids' Web access.


Interestingly, I find myself on the side of the dissenting justices when it
comes to filtering:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-06-29-porn-laws_x.htm
Kennedy said filter technology is improving. But dissenting justices said
filters are fallible, can be expensive and depend on parent intervention.
"More than 28 million school-age children have both parents or their sole
parent in the workforce, at least 5 million children are left alone at home
without supervision each week, and many ... (have) friends who may well have
access to computers and more lenient parents," Justice Stephen Breyer said
in dissent. He estimated that filtering software costs $40.

The very interesting thing is that to win this case at the trial level -- to
which it has been remanded, the government will have to prove that filters
DO NOT work. Of course, we all know that filters do not work. But the whole
reason the court upheld CIPA was the presentation of the idea that filters
DO work. So this ruling has placed the Department of Justice in a Catch-22
position.

Nancy

--
Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
http://csriu.org
nwillard@csriu.org

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